Becker gives FC better odds

His native Germany hooks up with France in a FIFA World Cup soccer quarterfinal in the afternoon. At night, the FC London leading scorer must help the Blues knock off the Toronto Lynx at — where else? — the German Club at 7:30 p.m. to keep their USL Premier Development League playoff hopes alive.

He’s a more confident in one over the other.

“As a German fan, I’d like to say we’ll win the whole thing, but I don’t think we’re going to make it, to be honest,” the 23-year-old said. “I think France has a good team. They have something to make up (from a winless Cup four years ago).”

He and FC London have serious ground to make up in the Great Lakes Division standings.

“I think we can win our last five games if we play strong,” Becker said. “Michigan, Chicago, they’re the two hottest teams. If we scored the penalty (against) Michigan, we don’t lose that game (two weeks ago) and Chicago, we’ve beaten them already.”

“Everything is possible if we go into the last weekend to Pittsburgh (in contention),” Becker said.

Head coach Martin Painter believes it’s a “guarantee” they’ll storm into second place, at worst, on the strength of a five-win run.

“If we win our next two games, we’re tied with Michigan (Bucks),” he said. “In the next (three games over) eight days, we’ll know what’s shaking.”

They might not even be striking distance if not for the emergence of Becker, who has eight goals in nine games but may never escape his famous surname – especially in a Canada gone mad over the Wimbledon tennis tournament this week.

“Especially if I check into a hotel in Germany, or even internationally, I always get asked if I’m related to Boris (Becker, the six-time Grand Slam winner),” he said. “We’re not.

“I wish I had his money.”

He’s looked like a million bucks so far in the FC London kit.

“For me, he’s one of the best players we’ve ever had,” Painter said. “If we made a list of the top 10 goals FC London has ever scored, he’d probably have four or five of them, and that’s in one year.

“He’s so good on the ball and dangerous one-on-one, technically sound and creative and he can shoot from distance.”

He grew up in the Werder Bremen club’s youth system back home, spending eight years there before the top German side decided not to pick up his contract. He decided to head overseas for school and picked Fort Lewis College in tiny Durango, Colorado, the 2011 Division II powerhouse, where a couple of his close buddies attended.

He played for the Ottawa Fury last summer before they moved into the North American Soccer League this year.

“He couldn’t go back there because he’s still in school,” Painter said. “We had a good relationship with the Fury and they said to us that’s a player you’ve got to get.”

Becker is coming off a torn-up knee that cost him his second college season in 2013. He only played in three games, but scored four times before a last-minute tackle forced him to the sidelines.

“This (PDL campaign) is really my first actual competition since the injury and it’s been good (for confidence),” he said. “I don’t look at it like I have to score. I want to have fun on the pitch, and if I score and win, it’s all good.”

He says he has fallen in love with Canada, in general, and London, in particular, valuing the diversity he has encountered here while thriving on a roster of different cultures.

“It can potentially be tough with the (on-field) chemistry because you have people from different countries – English, French, German, Canadians,” he said, “but I get along with everybody here and we’re working together to keep helping this team win.”

Five more, it’ll be time to start asking Boris if he’s a cousin with Yannis.

FC London has five games left on its USL Premier Development League schedule. To finish at least second in the Great Lakes Division and make the playoffs, they will likely need to run the table.

Friday: vs. Toronto Lynx, 7:30 p.m. at Cove Road Field.

Tuesday: at Michigan, 7:30 p.m. at Ultimate Soccer Arenas.

Friday, July 11: vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m. at Cove Road.

Friday, July 18: at Pittsburgh Highmark Stadium, 7 p.m.

Sunday, July 20: at Pittsburgh Highmark Stadium, 1 p.m.?

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